This title contains the presentations and discussions delivered with partners by the Social aspects of HIV/AIDS research alliance (SAHARA) Network of the HSRC at the two satellite sessions of the 16th International AIDS Conference, held in Toronto, Canada. Both sessions engaged with the urgent theme of the conference: 'Time to deliver'. The first section of the title, entitled 'Managing the complexity of the HIV/AIDS challenge in sub-Saharan Africa' includes a selection of presentations on current trends, studies and focuses within the fight against the pandemic in sub-Saharan Africa. The second section, entitled 'Missing the women - examining key challenges in policy responses to HIV/AIDS' presents an in-depth paper on this subject, including recommended steps of action in taking these issues forward and a discussion in response by four panellists. SAHARA is an alliance of partners established to conduct and support social science research to prevent the further spread of HIV and mitigate its devastating impact on sub-Saharan Africa. SAHARA is a vehicle for facilitating the sharing of research expertise and knowledge, and for conducting multi-site, multi-country research projects that are exploratory, cross-sectional, comparative or intervention-based. Its aim is to generate new social science evidence for the prevention, care and mitigation of the impact of the HIV/AIDS epidemic on individuals, families and communities.